Inner Sanctuary #7 by Rana Samara

In Inner Sanctuary, Rana Samara presents her personal intimate space revealing a layer of deep emotions connected with these places. From her comfortable lounge to a corner in her favorite café; she explores the settings that embrace her daily life. Along the way, she portrays an inner sanctuary, visually and sentimentally.

Samara depicts the inside of her world with fine details incorporating daily objects and furnishing. She uses her usual signature of charming colors and stunning decorative motifs to illustrate familiar locations pinned on her daily map; a lively studio, a neat kitchen, a colorful bedroom, corners of several cafés and bars, and even a calm abandoned swimming pool. Samara uses colors, motifs, and shapes to convey her sentiments showing either her content, calmness, anxiety, or frustration.

For Samara, it seems that humans are not essential, but their evidence is. Hence the subtle focus in the series on their traces. Records of their imprints can be found in every corner. One can see a suit hanging over closed curtains in a bedroom; a kitchen with a slipper in the middle of the floor; another kitchen with plates and food left on the top; a window sill with pots of plants, and cozy chairs with cushions.
Erasure could be a way to capture moments that people leave behind. It could be an attempt at emancipation from the restraints imposed by their presence and an opportunity to reveal concealed feelings of deep sentiments, whether joyful or gloomy.